Doug Ford spells disaster for Ontario

Ford is a very familiar name in Ontario, especially Toronto, and he could soon be our next premier. If Ford is elected premier it will spell trouble for Ontario.

While it’s important to remember that he is not his brother, and not to use Rob’s past against the older Ford, Doug Ford is not without his flaws, and he could cause quite a stir if elected this June.

Upon first look some of Ford’s plans as premier sound ideal.

He said he wants to give healthcare sectors fresh resources to eliminate what he calls, “hallway healthcare”. As well, Ford wants to find “efficiencies” at Queen’s Park to help the funding shortfall Ontario would face if they don’t put a carbon tax into effect, which Ford opposes.

But he has also made some questionable promises.

Ford said on 640 Toronto he would freeze minimum wage and repeal the new sex education curriculum.

“Help is on its way. Resources are on their way and I promise your voices will be heard,” said Ford at the Toronto Congress Centre. He plans on giving the healthcare sector resources to shorten wait times and stop stretchers from being put in hallways.

But Ford also believes minors should need parental permission to get an abortion. An abortion is no small procedure, and it comes with challenges. But making minors need permission will do more harm than good.

There are various reasons that someone might not want to tell their parents they’re pregnant and need an abortion.

The parent may say no, forcing the child to go through a pregnancy that could be detrimental to the child’s health. They could be kicked out, maybe they are afraid or ashamed to tell their parents, and it’s not right to take the choice away from the child. They may be young, but it’s their body.

Then there’s the sex education curriculum, a hot campaign topic.

The new sex education curriculum has been a highly-debated topic and it continues to be a source of controversy. Ford wants to review the curriculum saying a lot of parents are upset about it, although he never said when or who he spoke to.

Ford believes the parents should decide what their children learn about sex and when.

But the curriculum isn’t teaching children anything they’re too young for.

In grade one, children learn about their body parts, their five senses and personal hygiene, as well as their own personal safety. They don’t begin to learn about sexual health until around grade five.

Ford has also said the curriculum shouldn’t be about teaching “Liberal ideology”, which can be interpreted in different ways when looking at the actual curriculum.

Last of the big issues is minimum wage and jobs.

Ford wants to freeze the wage at $14/hour instead of it going to $15 in January. In fairness, he did say he wants to eliminate provincial taxes for those earning less than $30,000, but he didn’t explain how he would do that or make up the money that would be lost.

On top of that, he said he would cut provincial taxes for doctors in northern Ontario right down to zero per cent, meaning those in a higher income bracket would get a tax break. But when it came to employment Ford hasn’t been very specific.

He spoke about how the province lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs, and how he’s going to get the jobs back but it’s not clear if he blames job losses on the minimum wage increase or not, especially because this specific loss is from four years ago and a Scotiabank study found the job losses are not where they should be if caused by the wage increase.

Doug Ford is not the worst candidate in the running, but he’s also not the best. He has plans that will not better the province. His promises will cause a lot of problems and anger and upset.

The Chronicle is created and produced by students of the journalism program at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario. The publication covers stories from across Durham College, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the region of Durham and beyond.